Food and Juice Trends to Watch Out For in 2017

Living the healthy lifestyle will continue to rise this new year and it’s bound to get even bigger and more diverse with new trends coming in for must-try food and juices.

Indeed, being healthy never looked and felt this good, so start leveling up with your foodie-gram skills because these big food and juice trends are bound to whet your appetite for eating clean and eating right in 2017.[1]

Raw Appeal of Hawaiian Poké

The usual sushi and salad diet might be put aside with the rise in popularity of Hawaiian poké (pronounced as POH-kay), a Polynesian delight consisting of raw fish (usually ahi tuna or salmon) salad marinated with soy, lime, and sesame. You can also find avocado, seaweed, and cucumber in the mixture, all served atop of rice or leafy greens. And just this year, more and more restaurants and healthy to-go food services have been riding on the upward trend of including poké and poké dishes.

Since the beginning of 2016, poké has already been a mainstay in the Los Angeles dining scene, and have since crept up into the Instagram pages of foodies all over New York City as well.[2] The reason for the rising fascination of health buffs and foodies alike for poké is three-fold: it’s healthy, it’s easy to make (and customizable), and it’s very pretty to look at (and take photos of).

For starters, using fresh raw fish with lots and lots of greens and other veggies thrown in provides a more sumptuous and flavorful option compared to your go-to sushi or green salads. You can eat it with rice or, if carbo-loading isn’t your thing, you can just opt to have it over leafy vegetables.

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Another selling point of poké, is how easy it is to make, making it the new go-to lunch and snack for people on the go. It’s the perfect middle ground between quickie salad stops and heavy fillings of Chipotle. You’re getting more for less, and you’re eating healthier minus the bland and boring taste.

In fact, a lot of poké bowl restaurants have popped up from the west coast all the way to the east, where you can have your bowl customized starting with your base (rice or leafy veggies), protein (ahi tuna or salmon), plus the sauce and the rest of the toppings. These bowls are normally priced around $10 to $20, which can be even cheaper than sushi that can go beyond $20 a roll.

Given that most people live on social media these days, the reach of social media influencers displaying their poké dishes also plays a part in promoting this dish. If 2016 saw the beginnings of this humble Hawaiian dish, then 2017 is the year when it’s gonna blow and burst out in the open for the world to eat.

Rise of the Big Red

Enough with the greens, because red is in this year with watermelon juice promising to take the health industry by storm—with special thanks to Beyoncé.

It’s been predicted that watermelon juice, consisting of watermelon flesh and rind with lemon, will be the next big thing in juicing. And earlier this year, Beyoncé even invested in “WTRMLN,” which is a cold-pressed watermelon juice that’s currently being sold in Costco, Whole Foods, and Sobey’s.

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It’s about time we give notice to this highly beneficial fruit. The biggest health benefit of watermelon is its hydrating properties, consisting of about 92 percent water.[3] The leading nutrients that can be found in this fruit include vitamin C, vitamin A, lycopene, potassium, and small percentages of vitamin B1, B5, B6, and magnesium. And get this, watermelon actually ranks as one of the lowest in calorie count among all fruits and is low in sugar (even lower than berries), considering that it’s very sweet to taste.

But the three most important contributions of watermelon in maintaining good health are its link to the prevention of some types of cancer, heart diseases, and inflammation that can lead to chronic diseases. Be sure to consume in moderation because excessive consumption of this sweet and refreshing treat can lead to unnecessary gas and bloating because the naturally occurring sugar in watermelon is not always completely absorbed by our GI system.[4]

Apart from the cold-pressed variant, you can expect to see more variations of watermelon juices, shakes, and smoothies this new year.

Juicing Recipes to Try in 2017

Juicing is one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen. Through juicing, you are essentially packing tons of nutritive elements into a single refreshing serving. Here are a few recipes that you should try in the new year. I personally use a Vitamix for all of my shakes and smoothies (because it is so powerful and efficient), but since it is more on the pricier side, I recommend you researching juicers and choosing the best one that works for you. It doesn’t have to be the same as mine, just as long as it gets the job done right!

Strawberry Watermelon Juice

Since we’re riding on the big watermelon trend, we might as well serve a watermelon juice. Here we put a bit of a twist on an old favorite by mixing it with another favorite red fruit, the strawberry.

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Ingredients (for 2 servings):

1 cup of strawberries (or around 8 large pieces)

5 cups of watermelon (cut into cubes)

2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice

6 ice cubes (or frozen berries)

Water (just in case you want to adjust the consistency)

Instructions:

It’s highly recommended to first freeze the strawberries and watermelon cubes to get that refreshing chilled juice consistency.

Afterwards, throw in the watermelon, strawberries, and lemon juice, and blend it together until you get a smoother consistency—or the consistency you want to have

Banana Pineapple (and Kale) Juice

We can’t ignore that the color of the year is actually green, and more specifically, the nature and earthy kind of green, which is why we still need to have our go-to green juice. This time, it consists of banana and pineapple for that tropical flavor combined with kale leaves to complete the healthy trio.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

4 kale leaves

1 ripe banana (peeled)

¼ cup of fresh pineapple (cut into 1” strips)

Instructions:

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Ensure that the pineapple is frozen before usage.

Juice the pineapple and kale and then add in the banana until you’ve achieved the consistency that you want.

Carrot Treat

Detox your way into the start of the new year on a very positive and healthy note with this carrot juice that includes some greens and yellows in between. Carrot is known to be high in fiber and beta-carotene, and is a great source for antioxidants. What better way to start anew than by cleansing yourself with this healthy concoction?

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

4 carrots (sliced or diced)

1cm fresh ginger

1 green apple (sliced)

½ cup lemon juice

Instructions:

Clean the carrots before peeling them up and slicing. Apply the same process for the green apple.

Blend together the carrots, ginger, and green apple. Add in the lemon juice and blend until you have the right viscosity and consistency.

5 Exercises To Improve Intimacy and Create a Better Relationship

Making love can be simultaneously the most pleasurable and the most stressful experience that we share with another human being. It is a natural conclusion of the ritual of intimacy we engage in with a person we find attractive on both a physical and psychological level. Yet, we are far removed from our animalistic roots, and that which was once a matter of instinct has become somewhat complex. This is a good thing; we have grown as a society, and there are many factors involved when it comes to the relationship between sexual partners. However, we have also lost a great deal of the physical prowess our primitive ancestors had.

They engaged in a huge amount of physical activities daily — activities that ensured their cardiovascular system and muscles were in great shape, which allowed them to have healthy libidos, strong erections, and the muscular strength, limberness and endurance to maintain different positions for a long time without getting exhausted. Luckily, we can regain some of these animalistic traits with the right kind of training. Here are some essential exercises that will help improve your relationship, but making you more confident in intimate settings, which means that you’ll have more satisfying intercourse.

1. Cardio for Stamina

If you’re out of shape, the first thing you’ll notice during intercourse is that you start to breathe heavily, sweat profusely and tire easily. This means you’ll have to shift your posture frequently and limit yourself to a few positions you feel comfortable with or significantly slow down the pace. A high BMI has also been linked to potential problems with erectile dysfunction. Cardiovascular exercises like running, jumping rope, swimming and cycling will build up your aerobic stamina and enable you to perform longer before becoming fatigued, thus having better intercourse. They’ll also help manage your weight, possibly helping performance.

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Running – 10-20 minutes a day (1-3 miles a day is more than enough)

Jumping rope – 5-20 minutes a day

Swimming – 30 minutes a day

Cycling – 30 minutes a day

The time in minutes denotes time spent actively performing the exercise, and you need to factor in a bit more time for warming up before and cooling down after the exercises.

These exercises can be performed every day or every other day, and the goal is to work on both endurance and speed. Don’t just go at a snail’s pace; constantly try to improve your time or add some mileage.

2. Strength-Training for Your Lower Body and Core

The next thing you’ll need to focus on is improving both the strength and muscular endurance of the hip flexors, abdominals and spinal erectors. These are the muscles engaged in thrusting and circular motions, and they also stabilize your body in a number of different positions. The legs also play an important role, particularly in standing and kneeling positions. Here are a few exercises that will help you strengthen up this area:

Heavy barbell squats – set up at a power rack at the gym and make sure you use proper form and weights that you can lift 3-8 times. Do this exercise before anything else in the gym for 4-5 sets to get big and powerful legs, as well as tighten up the muscles of the core. This is useful for both men and women, particularly if you enjoy the woman-on-top positions and standing positions. You can do hack squats on the machine if your gym lacks a power rack, but you won’t get the core-strengthening benefits

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Zercher squats – this type of squat is a perfect way for guys to strengthen their body for standing positions where the woman is lifted off the ground. Build up a foundation of strength first, and then use lighter weights and go for 10-12 repetitions to focus on muscle endurance.

Glute bridge – this exercise is great for working the glutes and hip thrusters, and should be done for ultra-high reps —up to 100 — to increase muscle endurance. Once you become stronger in this movement, you can upgrade to the barbell glute bridge and keep the reps high — around 10 to 15.

Hyperextensions – excellent for strengthening the spinal erectors, this exercise (or a variation of it) may be done in most gyms and even at home. Do 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions at the end of your workout.

Ab wheel rollout – this is a great exercise for strengthening the abs, and requires only a piece of inexpensive equipment. It will help you stay stable and hold positions longer without getting tired during intercourse. Do three sets of this workout for as many repetitions as you can.

Cross body crunch – this exercise improves your ability to perform explosive twisting motions, particularly good for improving your stamina in the spoon position where you’e lying on your side. Do 2 to 3 sets of this exercise at the end of your workout.

Incorporate these exercises into your routine 2 to 3 times a week.

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3. Upper-Body Strength Training

Upper-body strength plays an important role in many popular sex positions where the arms are used to provide a stable base or hold onto the partner. These including missionary, doggy style, the stand and carry (with the woman holding onto the man’s neck) and others. Use these simple exercises to improve upper body strength and endurance:

Plank – while bench pressing is great for building a big chest, you will find yourself in need of static strength, muscle endurance and a strong core. This exercise is a great way to increase the amount of time you are able to hold positions that require you to support yourself with your arms. For added difficulty, straighten out your arms like at the top of a pushup and hold as long as you can.

Close pushups – a pushup variation that focuses on triceps, which are the first to give out during a prolonged missionary or similar position. Go for very high reps, 20 t0 50, to work on muscle endurance.

Chin-ups – A great upper back and biceps builder, this exercise will also target the core if you try to be as straight as possible when lifting yourself up. You can jump to help make things easier, or just hold as long as you can if you aren’t strong enough to perform a single chin up. Do 3 to 4 sets for as many reps as you can.

These exercises, done about three times a week, will help you develop a strong upper body that can keep going and hold you up for extended periods of time.

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4. Pelvic-Floor Exercises

You don’t have to perform these at the gym, although you could do them after your workout without anyone even noticing. The idea behind Kegel exercises is to improve blood flow to the sex organs and strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor in both men and women. By locating these muscles and tightening and relaxing them for intervals of 5 seconds for 10 to 15 repetitions at a time, several times a day, you can improve pleasure and performance during sex. Women can tighten their vaginal walls for increased pleasure to both them and their partner, while men can delay ejaculation by tightening these muscles.

5. Flexibility Moves for Legs and Hips

If you want to avoid getting cramps — or even worse, pulling a muscle during intercourse — you should do a few simple stretches every day. The more limber you are, the more comfortable you’ll be with more exotic poses. Here are a few simple stretches to improve hip and leg flexibility:

Take a few minutes to warm up with some light running or jumping jacks before stretching, and spend some 10 minutes on these stretches. You can do them in the morning and at night, or shortly before intercourse.

With just a few hours a week devoted to exercise, you can improve your relationship significantly. If you focus on these exercises, over time, you just might become dynamite in bed.